


Silence is Golden

by CrocodilePatronus (crocodileinterior)



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-27
Updated: 2013-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:40:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25227691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crocodileinterior/pseuds/CrocodilePatronus
Summary: a throat and chest cold goes around Downton.
Relationships: Thomas Barrow/Jimmy Kent
Kudos: 19





	Silence is Golden

Anyone who's ever lived in a large household can tell you that when one person gets a cold, everyone gets a cold. Downton, despite being the finest house in England (Carson's words, not Thomas's) was no exception. 

Nearly everyone both upstairs and downstairs within the frame of a week had come down with something unpleasant- it had started with a cough which then turned into a burning congestion in the lungs and a sore throat that made speaking nearly impossible. 

Clarkson was getting more exercise running up and down the stairs than he probably had in the war for it had struck everyone- from the Crawleys to the kitchen maids. 

Thomas was positive he'd caught it from Alfred. The bloody moron had coughed in his direction a few days ago but he was so ridiculously tall a cough from him was like a shower of germs onto the heads of whomever was unfortunate enough to be within spitting distance. 

_Didn't anyone ever teach him to cover his cough? Raised in a fucking barn._ Thomas thought bitterly as he himself began coughing again in his bed. _No, worse. Raised by O'Brien's family. Probably teach you it's incorrect if you don't drag others into your suffering by spraying your germs all over them._

There was a knock at the door and then a somewhat cheery voice on the other side said "Thomas? Can I come in?"

Thomas would never have thought the sound of Jimmy's voice could ever be annoying to him. But there it was. 

The one golden boy, the one who got away, the only member of the household who was healthy as could be and with more vim than ever was Jimmy Kent. 

And he insisted on going around with a big grin on his face. Thomas just _**knew**_ Jimmy thought he was the best of them all just because he had the best immune system. 

If Jimmy had been sick, Thomas would've blamed his catching his cold on him instead of Alfred. It would be impossible not to with the amount of bodily fluids they shared with eachother on a near nightly basis now. 

Thomas tried to say come in but his voice died in his throat and a scratchy, hacking noise came out instead that made him wince. The door opened and Jimmy peeked his head around, beaming like a ray of sunshine. 

"That didn't sound pleasant." he said.

"What do you want?" Thomas managed to croak weakly, feeling his ribs ache from the exertion of getting out a coherent sentence.

"Oh, that's not very polite, Mr.Barrow. I've just brought you some tea." Jimmy pushed his way through the doorway holding a tray with steaming soup and steaming tea and even a fresh picked flower in a little vase. Suddenly Jimmy Kent looked like an angel. He was practically shining with ethereal light. He kicked the door shut behind him and came in, setting the tray up on Thomas's dumbvalet and pulling up a chair next to the bed. 

"Jimmy... thank you." Thomas whispered dumbfounded, reaching out in awe and brushing his fingertips against the petals of the flower practically in a daze of disbelief. 

"I'm at your service today. And as many days as you need to recover."

Thomas smirked. "You're always at my service. I'm your boss." 

He began coughing again as soon as the words left his mouth and bent over, covering his mouth with his hand. 

"Ech. That's wretched. You should hear Lady Mary though. When I went upstairs I could hear her all the way down the hall. Never heard something so unladylike from her- sounds like a dying seal." Jimmy supressed a laugh. 

"Has Alfred died from it yet?" Thomas asked hopefully. 

"Fraid not. But his face is green. I mean literally green." 

Thomas smiled at Jimmy. 

"Are you going to read me the newspaper again? Like old times?" he asked, taking his hand in his. 

"Hmm. I can think of other things I'd much rather do." JImmy's lips curved up and he leaned forward but Thomas put his hand on his chest.

"Oi- you're the only one left of us. Can't have you getting sick too." Thomas laughed, "Or else when we all die who'll tell our story?"

Jimmy sat back and grinned, raising his eyebrows.

"I won't catch it. Not even after a hundred kisses from your disease ridden lips. I'm invincible." 

Thomas shook his head incredulously.

"You're _something,_ alright." 

Jimmy laughed and moved further onto the bed, wrapping his arms around Thomas's waist. Thomas couldn't help himself but smile a bit and lean in closer as well, brushing the tip of his nose against Jimmy's neck. 

"A hundred kisses you say....? You'll be sick as a dog and with numb lips."

"Is that a challenge, Mr.Barrow?" he put his mouth against Thomas's, running his tongue slowly across his lower lip. 

-

Two days later everyone in the household had recovered. Everyone who had been sick, that is. The one and only person still in their beds was Jimmy Kent. 

"I wish I could've bet money on it or something. You were so confident you were immune." Thomas laughed, smoking a cigarette on the edge of Jimmy's bed. 

Jimmy made a weak and guttural groaning noise. It seemed his throat had become so sore he'd gone silent the last 6 hours and Thomas was enjoying it to it's full extent. 

He flipped open the newspaper. 

"Shall we read the cricket scores that you hate so much?" 

Jimmy shook his head, his already frazzled blond hair shaking. 

"I can't hear you, love, speak up." Thomas said without looking up from the page, a wicked smirk on his mouth.

Jimmy made a weak whimper. 

"I'll take that as a yes, then." 

Jimmy forced himself to sit up in bed and fell onto Thomas, leaning the weight of his torso against the older man's shoulders. Thomas smiled at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you want something, invincible one?" 

Jimmy bit his shoulder. 

"Hope you don't have rabies as well." 

Jimmy made a small growling noise and managed a smile. Thomas pushed Jimmy gently back against the pillows and placed his hand over his forehead. 

"You're still burning up..." he mumbled and wrung out a cold washcloth in the basin by the bed, draping it over Jimmy's forehead. 

Thomas stroked the side of Jimmy's face and watched his eyes flutter shut, a small content smile on his face. 

"You're sort of adorable like this, y'know."

Jimmy batted his eyelashes at Thomas.

".... I meant, you're cute when you're not talking." Thomas said and grinned when Jimmy punched him in the ribs.

\---

In some ways Jimmy was still the miracle man even though he'd caught the cold. Unlike everyone else he recovered within 48 hours and when Thomas came into his room on the third morning of his bed rest Jimmy was already up and coifing his hair, bright eyed and with natural color back in his cheeks.

"A full recovery then." Thomas said, shutting the door behind him. 

"Just a few days rest is all I needed." Jimmy grinned. 

Thomas walked over to him and put his hand on his forehead once more. 

"I'm telling you, I'm fine." Jimmy laughed. 

"No, you still feel a bit warm." Thomas said but there was a smile threatening the corner of his lips. "I think one more day of bed rest might do you good." 

Jimmy caught on quickly and bit his lower lip, smiling and looking up at Thomas demurely through his eyelashes. "But I'm so lonely and bored here in my bed with nothing and no one to do." 

Thomas grinned and pulled Jimmy close to him, kissing his jawline. 

"Then I'll just have to come check up on you a lot. I am a medic after all. And Clarkson's probably so tired it would be a shame to make him come back just on your account." He slid his hands up Jimmy's shirt, running his fingertips along the lines of his ribs as his breath hitched. "But I'll have to do a full examination." 

Jimmy ran his hand through Thomas's hair. "Alright. But I think you'll find, Thomas, that my body is in full working order."

"Well, we'll just have to see about that." 


End file.
